THE JHARKHAND STORY NETWORK
Daltonganj, April 12: Chainpur police in Palamu, Jharkhand, foiled a major smuggling attempt on Thursday by seizing bottles of illicit liquor being transported from Goa to Bhutan. The police discovered the consignment during a surprise check of a parked truck.
India and Bhutan maintain a free trade agreement supporting legitimate commerce, but smuggling of this nature violates the law. The illicit liquor had been transported across several Indian states, covering hundreds of kilometers, before being intercepted in Palamu.
Truck Seized with 1200 Boxes of Illicit Liquor
Giving this information on Friday, the officer in charge of the Chainpur police station Sriram Sharma said, “A truck bearing UP’s registration number was parked near a petrol pump at Magardaha.”
Its casual search led to the recovery of 1200 boxes each carrying 12 bottles of illicit liquor, added the police officer.
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Police took over the driver of the truck identified as Jitender Yadav (28) of Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh.
Yadav was remanded to judicial custody today Friday in the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Daltonganj, said the police officer.
Long Smuggling Route from Goa to Bhutan
The consignment of 1200 boxes of illicit liquor was from Goa to Bhutan, Chainpur police claimed quoting the driver Yadav.
The truck had embarked on its journey from Goa on Saturday. It passed through Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh.
Chainpur police station limits are in the contiguity of Jharkhand’s Garhwa which is connected to Chhattisgarh.
The distance between Goa to Bhutan is a little over 2,000 km depending on the entry point of Bhutan.
Phuentsholing is the popular entry point of Bhutan for many states of India like Goa, Maharashtra etc.
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Possible Profit Margins and Unusual Smuggling Pattern
Reminded that such a huge journey from Goa to Bhutan by road and again 1400 plus bottles of illicit liquor only can never be a happy and lucrative illicit trade in liquor as margin of profit is bound to be notional one to which police officer Sriram Sharma said, “The illicit liquor seized appears to be pretty local ones of Goa.”
“In Bhutan it is just possible that these Goa-made illicit liquor fetches much higher prices there than in the home state Goa,” guessed the police officer Sharma.
Illicit liquor is smuggled for shorter distances unlike poppy where it is shipped from Palamu to Rajasthan or Punjab. Marijuana comes from Orissa to Jharkhand.
But never in the history of illicit liquor such a cross-border shipment was ever caught and seized.
The UP truck had been seized by the Chainpur police station. The smuggling of illicit liquor from Goa to Bhutan is a first-of-its-kind international crime.
